Life with Lucy

In the event that we don't keep her, here is a snippet from Lucy's last night with us. She heads back to her foster mom tomorrow!

Diary of a Dog

Hello, my name is Lucy. Let me tell you what I have done today (sparing, of course, the details about my bodily functions).

7:00 – Heard Chad and Ellen come home from the gym. They let me out of my crate! I was so excited I couldn’t even eat my breakfast.

7:45 – Chad went to get ready for work and I walked upstairs all by myself but then I was too scared to walk back down.

9:15 – Was finally coaxed downstairs.

10:45 – [Insert loud bark here] Someone’s at the door. Intruders! Oh, it’s just the cleaning lady. I peed when I met her. Oops. I was not going to talk about bodily functions.

11:45 – Martha was done with the upstairs. We went on a walk so she could clean the downstairs. It was so fun! I moseyed around the whole nature trail and Ellen let me chase a bird! I learned that if I paw wet bushes that water comes down, which is sooo fun. I like being wet. And I rolled down a hill just because I could.

12:30 – Got back from my walk and Ellen tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to dry off my feet before I walked around on the nice, clean floors.

12:45-present – I’ve been napping ever since right by the kitchen desk where Ellen is working. Life is good.

21st century test drive

About two weeks ago we reconsidered our idea of getting a dog. Chad has been excited about this for awhile but I have always been hesitant. (He must have caught me on a good night.) We found one that we liked at a shelter and met her last week. It's not the easiest process out here to get a dog, even if you want to adopt one. After filling out an application, doing a phone interview with the head of the clinic, meeting a dog in person and having a home visit, it was decided that we could take the next step.

So this is Lucy. (If you want a real good sob story, read how they got her.) We picked her up yesterday and have her until Tuesday night. A "doggie test run," if you will.

On the one hand, I have been overwhelmed. This is kind of like having a kid without having the nine months to get ready for it. I don't feel like I have had any time to do my real work like laundry, clean up from last night's party, or read my newest People magazine. And don't get me started on my nice wood floors with dirty pawprints all over them. (Fortunately the cleaning lady comes tomorrow. Yes, I am pathetic.) I am starting to wonder if I am too selfish to deal with any of the headache that comes with training, caring for, or loving a dog.

On the other hand, today has been ten times better than yesterday. Lucy has gotten used to us, she's not had any accidents in the house and I'm a bit more comfortable not being in the exact same room as she is. We had about 20 people over last night and she was so excited to meet everyone--just watched all of the action and when she absolutely couldn't hang on any longer, she just went to sleep under the dining room table. She already knows how to sit, absolutely loves Chad and has only barked once.

Chad and I have both decided that we're not going to make any decision about whether or not to keep her until Wednesday or Thursday after we take her back. (He's a definite yes but I'm still on the fence.) If we want to move forward, we will "officially" adopt her next Sunday, after we return from a weekend to see our friends in New York. I'll keep you posted!

House Rules: An update

I mentioned my poll to Chad tonight, to which he responded:

Oh, I noticed the bills in the laundry basket, so I took them. I knew they were mine because you don't ever keep bills in your pocket and when you do, you don't fold them in half.

Why didn't I think of that!?!

House Rules: A poll

Any money (bills or coins) found when washing, drying, or folding laundry is:

A) The rightful property of the person who put that item of clothing in the laundry.

B) The rightful property of the person who did the laundry.

C) The rightful property of the person who did the laundry unless the person who put that item of clothing in the laundry remembers the money and asks for it back.

D) Other.

Vote and discuss.

Cross this one off the list

So Chad and I got hit by a bus tonight. Or at least his car did. Stupid Cherry Blossom Festival anyway. Tourists and bus drivers who don't know what they're doing.

No one is hurt and the car is still driveable. Nice little dent where the bus scraped alongside the driver's side. The charter bus is fine. It is, after all, about ten times bigger than Chad's car.

But now I can officially say I've been hit by a bus. This means I can no longer say things like, "If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, how would this get done?" or "I promise to be here unless I get hit by a bus."

I will need to find a new catchphrase apparently. Any ideas out there?

Houston, we have a problem

Well, folks, in case your little hypochrondriac minds weren't occupied enough by fears about secondhand smoke and global warming, here's something else to worry about.

The American Journal of Psychiatry has found addiction to text messaging and emailing could be another form of mental illness. The article, by Dr. Jerald Block, said there were four symptoms: suffering from feelings of withdrawal when a computer cannot be accessed; an increased need for better equipment; need for more time to use it; and experiencing the negative repercussions of addiction.

Oh, and it also says that a classic sign could be leaving your Blackberry on your nightstand while you sleep. So that is pretty much the nail in the coffin for Chad.

That's what I'm talkin about!

We became Netflix converts earlier this year, what with the writer's strike and my annoyance of paying $4.99 for each movie we rented at Blockbuster. (And I am never good at driving things back to the store but I am good at just popping them in the mail. Too easy!)


So far, I love it. I've been watching all of these movies I've always wanted to see but forgot about. I have a few friends on there who share their favorites with me so that I can learn about good new flicks. And Chad gets a movie every now and then of his very own which keeps him occupied when I have other things to do. Plus, it's pretty cheap! Only $18 a month. So enough of my sales pitch.


On Monday, Netflix's website was down and apparently they weren't able to ship anything out either, since Chad's movie he was supposed to receive did not come yesterday. Well, bummer, I thought. But those things happen.



This morning, I got an email apologizing for the disruption and the fact that our movie did not get sent out Monday as planned. And they said to make up for it that they were taking five percent off my next bill.



How refreshing! I would like to take this moment to say thank you to a company who actually made things right without me having to ask for it. Their gesture is only saving me about 85 cents, but it's the thought that counts!

3:30 on a Friday

Hello?

Ms Davis, this is Wanda from Dr. Reichert's office. Your blood in the tube with the purple top got lost by the lab. We weren't able to get the results from them. So I'm going to send you a form in the mail and you can go get it taken again. [I'm sure this is no big deal. It's not like you work or anything.]

Well they took two vials of it. Can't they just use one vial for both tests? [Hello, I watch CSI. I know you only need like a drop.]

We need the one with the purple top.

Ok...well, how did the one test turn out that you were able to do?

Hmm...[papers shuffling]...it doesn't look like we were able to complete that test either. We need the tube with the purple top.

If I had guts I would have said:
I don't care what color the top of the tube is! And what kind of idiots work down in the lab that lose two vials of blood in three days? I've still got the mark from where you people stuck me on Monday!

So this week I am going to a different lab to get more blood drawn. And if they lose it, I might just take the blood myself and walk it up to the doctor's office.

Have your cake...

Yes, this is a real cake for a co-worker's going away party.

Do you think the person who ordered this was just a little bit pissed when she opened the box?

Favorite Easter Memories

Spilling Grandma's lime fascination dessert down the front of myself when I was very carefully trying to put it in the refrigerator. (No, I was not five years old when this happened...I was in college.)

When mom and I saw two women get into a fight over the last package of fake grass at the Galesburg Wal-Mart

That first bite of a Cadbury caramel egg after all those Lents of giving up candy

Dad shaving his beard into weird designs before Maundy Thursday services

Aunt Phyll's 1998 Easter egg hunt that is still turning up eggs

Hosting my very first Easter with new in-laws and a new dining room set. Chad's dad got horrible food poisoning--hopefully not from me!

Do I...what?

So my doctor wants to check my thyroid and I go down to the lab to get some blood work taken. The person who eventually calls my name is a no-nonsense African-American woman wearing one of those turquoise medical coats with a bunch of bright designs all over it.

I have found in previous experiences that the best way for me to forget about the fact that a needle is getting stuck in my arm is to be chatty. She hikes up my shirt sleeve and I point to the vein that works best (yes, I have had enough blood taken in my life to know which vein works best) and she ties one of those plastic things around my arm and I make a fist and we're good to go.

I ask her how many times she's done this today (since, by then it was about 4:45 and I imagined she'd been there for awhile). She says, "Just wait a minute." Fine, I think, she must be concentrating. While she's drawing blood I look around and tap my foot and sing to myself and do just about anything I can to keep myself from paying attention to what's going on to my left.

Then it's done. I look over and she's taken two nice little vials full of the red stuff. Wow, I tell her, you're good. That wasn't bad at all.

Nothing. Not a smile. No nod. Nothing.

After she puts the bandaid on, she looks at my chart, then looks at me. Looks at my chart. Looks at me. She peers up over her glasses and completely matter-of-factly says:

"You get seizures?"

"No," I said. "Why...?"

"Just curious." She snaps my chart shut and then curtly says, "You can go."

Anyone out there with a semblance of a medical background have a clue as to why I may have been asked that question?

Signs of spring

The flowering trees on our street have started to bloom! A sure sign that spring is right around the corner.

Kiss me, I'm Irish

Now this is a picture that will brighten the day of any aunt, if I do say so myself! (That's Miriam, by the way--my soon-to-be three-year-old niece.)

Fair skin, curly red hair, blue eyes...but in case you weren't quite sure, her shirt spells it out for you. There's a little Irish blood in that one!

Look out

Think you've seen it all? This is a great public service announcement out of the U.K.

Smart Alec

The car dealership at the end of our street has started selling Smart cars and they are making quite a fuss in the neighborhood. All day long yesterday we saw people test driving them up and down the street.

These cars remind me of the winners in those "ugly dog" contests. At first glance, they are appalling but there is some sort of a "this is who I am so deal with it" personality that makes them rather attractive. And, much like an ugly dog, I would probably never buy one.

Smart car owners will have to be very careful not to try to make it look cool. Just accept all its weird flaws and quirks and get it in a bright yellow or something. No use trying to pretend that it's the second coming of automobiles. More like a, "Hey, look at me. I'm different and I like it, thank you very much. And yes, I get 40 miles to the gallon in the city. And, no, I probably can't hold all of your groceries..."

They won!

The T.C. Williams Titans have won state in boys' basketball. It's very weird because, back home, this is a big deal. But I had to hunt around the Washington Post website for five minutes to find it and finally discovered the news buried in the "Sports - High School" section.

Snap, Crackle, Pop

We're at the end of our third week waking up and going to the gym before work. I'm starting to rather enjoy it. The only detriment to all of this (in addition to the 5:30 a.m. alarm, of course), is that I am starting to realize how old my body is getting.

Every morning when I sit up in bed, I turn to one side and then another and my back sounds like little fireworks are going off. There are parts of me that crack and creak that I never knew existed. I actually have to stretch before and after working out so I don't pull something. And I must put my sweats over my shorts before I go outside so I don't catch a cold (after 30 years, I am finally listening to you, Dad).

I could swear it was just last week that I was invincible...and now, this.

Remember the Titans!

The Titans of T.C. Williams, which is the high school at the end of our street, are one game away from winning the state basketball championship. And you thought they were only known for football.

I told Chad last week that all of this hype about moving to an area for the good schools is overblown. Wouldn't we rather send our kids to a school that's good in sports? Hello...priorities... He reminded me that our undoubtedly 5' 7" white kid wouldn't really be a candidate for the T.C. Williams basketball team. And I don't think I want him playing football.

So maybe we'll want to find a good education program after all.

Sheriff: Woman Sat on Toilet for 2 Years

Now this is what I call stubborn...

WICHITA, Kan. - Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who sat on her boyfriend's toilet for two years -- so long that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the boyfriend finally called police.

Read more.

A few (more) of my favorite things...*

1) Edamame. What a great snack. One minute in the microwave and you've got practically an entire day's worth of vitamins. I love it so much, I've been buying it at Costco. That's a lot of beans.

2) Daylight Savings Time. It's 5:49 and still perfectly sunny. This is going to make the a.m. workouts a bit more difficult, but the evening sunshine is worth it!

3) Lazy days on the couch. I worked out a lot this week. Ate well. Went to church. Took my vitamins. Cleaned my house. And now that I have time to sit on the couch for hours upon end, I'm not feeling the least bit guilty for it!

4) My new kitchen faucet which has a hose that pulls out so I can water my plants without actually putting them in the sink, fill up the water filter, and get at all those weird angles of big pots and pans. I had no idea what I was missing!

5) Great customer service. Remember the horrid experience I had with my cell phone? Today I took the new one back to AT&T (because I found the old one) and they gave me a refund for the one I purchased, no questions asked. After all that headache, I didn't end up spending a dime.

* These things are subject (and likely) to change at any time with no notice.

Search for a culprit

I am on the hunt to figure out which member of my family put a bag of leftover pasta in my purse the night of my Grandma Cathy's 80th birthday party more than a month ago.

You can run, you can hide, you can try to pawn it off on others...but I will find you.

My entire office smelled like decomposing pasta on Friday afternoon when I finally stumbled upon this in a zipped section of my purse. On the plus side, I must give kudos to Ziploc. The darned thing never did leak!

Before & After

I think I can officially say that we are done with our kitchen! Chad did such a great job with the new countertops and I must admit that my painting skills are almost professional.

So here is a before-and-after shot of what our kitchen looked like when we moved in...and what it looks like today. (Yes, we still have the same stove.)

Checkmate

The writers' strike leading to a lack of TV options mean that we've been playing a lot of chess lately. I made a brainless move last night which made it possible for Chad to take my king with one move (and win the game).

Chad said he thought it was against the rules to put yourself in a checkmate situation. No, I said, it's not against the rules to do that. It's just stupid.

A life-altering conversation

I was unloading the dishwasher tonight and Chad's cell phone rang. I immediately thought for some reason that it was one of those phone conversations that was somehow going to change my life. Chad had said "Hi Eric," so I thought it was his old boss Eric whose wife just had baby #2. I was sitting there unloading plates and silverware wondering if Eric was calling to offer him a job in Florida, where they live. I immediately was trying to think if I wanted to move to Florida. It's awfully damn humid there.

Anyway, it was not Chad's old boss Eric; it was the husband of one of my very best friends letting me know that they had a little girl one entire month early! Her name is Cailey Nicole, which I think is just beautiful. I let her know that legend says leaders are born on March 4 and, regardless, she is happy and everyone is healthy. Life is good.

It was definitely one of those phone calls that will change my life. This is a little girl that I will be close to forever. Birthdays, Christmases, you name it. I'm a surrogate aunt.

But fortunately, at least for now, it was not a phone call that is going to relocate us.

Spring has sprung!

I'm pretty convinced that we subconsciously forget what nice weather is like from November through February. Hunker down and power through the cold and wind and general crappiness. But this weekend has shown me a few signs that spring is just around the corner!

It's still light out when I leave work, the air isn't terribly frigid, and there are buds on the trees. This morning, I woke up to this little dude singing away right outside my window. I actually had to do a double-take to make sure I was really hearing what I thought I was.


It's almost springtime!